Happy Hawkins

E

had become a curious little trick with a way of doin' strange things in a sober old-

u might say, on all questions. No, Barbie couldn't seem to get callous to this, an' she fought out all differences of opinion from the mere facts o' the case, an' I got to do Jabez the justice of admittin' that he never retreated behind his authority until after he'd been well licked in the open; an' unless it

n' a lot more o' the boys is all over six feet tall," she sez one day durin' a try-out, "while Flap

tall ones would all 'av' been taller if they hadn't used it, an' F

w," sez she. "I don't want to be so everlastin' tall,

sez Jabez, gettin' riled. "Smokin' cig

moke a pipe,

intend to have a gal child of mine s

in' as chewin', an'

hat makes a heap o' difference. I had to give up cussin' on your account, but I do

to me too," sez Barbie. "I heard y

, 'about the house'; an' besides, y

e' wasn't anything wrong at the hay-barn an' you was all alone. I just know 'at you went there to cuss 'cause I made you own up at brea

e older, Barbara," ol' Cast Steel sez in his coldest tone, "you will understand these things an' be glad of the car

egal age?

e years,"

m goin' to roll three cigarettes a day for thirteen years a

m an' stay there,"

in' to figure up how many it will be, so I'll have some

nly eight year old an' she's got me out beyond my depth already. I don't know what I ought to do with her. She went to the spring round-up this year an' slept

s to play; but the only kind of play she knows is grown-up play. Get some children

ns, but she about ruined 'em. The only game she would play was war, an' when they wouldn't stand for her way o' playin' it sh

n' they won't be slow an' gentle like the little Injuns; they'll be just as

was six year old-I'd been lookin' forward to it

years' work in two. It's a blame shame, 'cause the school is only ten miles away an' she could go as well as not, but she's so terrible impatient. She reads all kinds o' books already, an' sez she's goin' to read 'em all be

e' ain't no real sense in, so when you try to dig up a reason for 'em you give 'em the whip hand. Just like religion: lots of it is better just stated an' not mussed up tryin' to be explained. When a parson tries to tell me why God created this universe, it don't sound reasonable; but when I go out an' look at the stars an' the mountains an' the big sweep o' the plains an' then try to round up all that astronomer feller said abo

n' over it a long spell; so when school opened up again in the fal

less men an' got through on a tighter schedule, but it was a fine place to work at an' we all got what was comin' to us. Through the winter I used to ride over with Barbie when the days was anyways rough, an' it took her a long time to find out that Starlight really could beat her pinto. I reckon that

h names the longest, she was willin' to give me my choice-an' then she said 'at that wouldn't be quite fair to the pinto-she was mighty rigid on bein' square-so she said 'at we'd have to draw for 'em. She wrote "Happy" on one piece of paper an' "Hawkins" on the other, put her hat in the pony's mo

's long legs had given him a big advantage, but now her weight made it a purty go

to make a fair test of

, "but what's the use of a race

hat little witch. She allus had a come-back, an' the only way to get ahead of her was either to boss or beg. I hadn't no author

d miles,"

's wider'n that. Why don't y

sez she, "an' if you hustle you c

boss kno

ime," sez she.

d up brandin' irons an' other truck for the round-up, an' a hundred miles through spring sweetness was a heap sight more temptin' to me; so I give in an' s

she, "but in case you can't find it just circle Mount

some head ridin'. Oh, it was gratifyin' to watch the little rascal ridin' with her brain, like I'd taught her. She didn't throw the reins down on her pony's neck, an' she didn't pull in on the bit; she j

less you have somethin' to say, Happy," sez she. "I don't want Hawkins to imagine 'at we're

when we swing around Mount Savage an' he g

omplainin' o' the dullness of the business he'

an' we didn't waste any time on the waterin'. I figured we'd scaled up about fifty miles, an' the pinto was still ton

l she did begin ridin' purty soon, an' brother Hawkins responded like an echo. He was a hog for distance, was that pinto. He was short on top with plenty of depth to him, and his belly cut up quick, showin' he had lots o' room for his heart an' his lungs an' his forage. Starlight's nostrils worked a shade mo

y streak warm by this time, an' I let him edge ahead as fast as he wanted to. He knew the distance now, an' he knew I wanted to cover it in the least possible time, an' he knew just how much the' was left in him, so I drew a tight rein, eased it off again, an' we dropped a gap between us an' the shorter legs of Barbie's mount. We only gained an

then I took after Barbie. It looked like a race, sure enough. I was worried. Pluto was a high grade stallion Jabez had got after I lined up Starlight alongside the range ponies, an' he had the meanest temper I ever see put into a hoss. I had been

ly took one long breath an' shook his head. I turned the hosses over to one o' the boys 'at were hangin' around the door lookin' troubled, an' hustled inside

damage, Jabe

ion. She had flung herself from the pinto an' came running int

e you been

appy," she said. "Are

eat?"

about a hu

more'n fi

ace?" asked Jabez,

miles," s

arryin' a hundred'n fifty pounds more weight. Hendricks-tell those blame fools not to kill Pluto. Happ

l with three ropes around his neck an' the boys snubbin' him to posts. They wasn't minded to let him go, even on Hendricks's say-so, but I went into the stall an' told 'em to e

e' is a way to fight a hoss fair-that is, as fair as any fight is. If you look at it one way, the' can't never be a fair fight, 'cause one is bound to

his head, an' we two stood alone in the big box stall with size in his favor an' brains in mine. I had some consi

they're as high feelin' as children. He was out o' humor to begin with, an' purty soon his ears went back an' his eyes got red. I've heard tell about an animal not bein' able to lo

left an' the minute his hoofs came down I slipped thumb an' forefinger into his nostrils, an' tried to jerk his head around to the right; but I'd thrown him once

s ear in my mouth an' I bit it. It was a trick I'd learned from ol' Monody, an' I sure bit hard an' close to the head. For mighty nigh a minute he stood it fightin', an' then he give a

, pulled up his left front foot with my left hand an' heaved with my shoulder. Down he went an' as he fell

I have good reason an' then I convince him-whether he's able to live through it or not. I stroked old Pluto's ears an' nose, all the time mu

r not, an' Pluto wasn't any exception to the rule. After a while I explained everything to him an' told him that if he'd just act like a human bein', he'd be treated like

luto; but I was the only one he'd mind without bein' chainbitted. He counted me his best friend, an' after a while he got so he'd play with me-nip my ear with his l

tal proud of the condition they was in. I reckon the' wasn't another pair in the territory 'a

up, I could see my self-control gettin' strained twice a minute. I knew enough about us both to know 'at whenever it came to a show down, i